Thursday, June 17, 2010

Birdies and bogeys from the first round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach:

BIRDIES

-- Brendon de Jonge. The Charlotte resident, playing in his first U.S. Open, made it look like no big deal, crusiing along the edge of Carmel Bay, making three birdies in a four-hole cluster and then, when it seemed he was losing his edge, holing a wedge shot for an eagle at the 14th. It's just one round but it's a good start for a guy having a good year.

-- Mike Weir. He's not flashy but he has a steady game built for U.S. Open set-ups. It's probably been forgotten because of how the weather ruined so much last year but Weir was the first-round leader at Bethpage after shooting 64. Don't be surprised if he hangs around.

-- Ryo Ishikawa's outfit. Hot pink and white doesn't usually work for golfers unless their name is Paula Creamer but Ishikawa made it work on Thursday. He one-upped Ian Poulter in the fashion game, if only for a day.

-- Rafael Cabrera-Bello: The young Spaniard, who shot 70, was charming in his post-round interview session telling the story of his visa troubles getting out of Europe and arriving in California before his clubs did. "The airline didn't lose them," he said. "They just forgot them."

BOGEYS -- Geoff Ogilvy. He shot 79 on Thursday, not what you'd expect from a guy with his game. But he can go flat for long periods at a time. This is evidently one of those times.

-- Phil Mickelson. The good news is he didn't shoot himself out of the championship despite an opening-round 75. The bad news is everyone, Mickelson included, expected more. But if you can't make putts inside 10 feet, it's going to haunt you. He needs a strong second round to be right there.

-- Ryan Moore's tee shot at No. 17. If you missed it, Moore's tee shot on the par-3 missed the green to the right and bounced all the across the 18th tee behind the green and hung on the edge of the edge suspended above Carmel Bay. It was a very large miss even by amateur standards. He did, however, make a good bogey.

-- Tiger Woods. He complained about the greens, calling them "awful." They're poa annua greens, they're never great. But everybody has to play them. He'll get over it, probably.

2
comments:

Anonymous
said...

The funny thing about Tiger's comments about the Poa greens at Pebble is that he grew up playing on them, all over SoCal. His first two 'home courses' in Orange County have always had poa annua greens; his early amateur career showed that he can scorch them, no matter what the surface.

I'm a big TW fan, so I'm not hating on him by any stretch. What his comments prove is that you DO get used to playing on the conditions you're usually playing on...in the case of the pros on Tour, it's the bent or (god forbid, to hear many pros complain) even the Bermuda greens of most Tour stops.

But, as you've noted--everyone has to play them. In Tiger's case, he might could have used a few more practice rounds at PB to get more in tune with the NorCal conditions.